An Internet smart card is connected with a communication device, such as e.g. a personal computer or a laptop or the like, via a standardized interface, such as e.g. a USB interface, and provides a secure connection establishment with a trustworthy web-based service, such as e.g. online banking, e-learning or the like. The Internet smart card thereby makes sure among other things that a user who selects a web server in the Internet via a web browser installed on his communication device reaches a trustworthy web site and is not for example diverted or manipulated.
To implement this security functionality an Internet smart card requires a routing mechanism forwarding an http request by a web browser to the Internet web server in question, and returning an http response from the Internet web server to the user's web browser in response to the http request. For this purpose the Internet smart card usually establishes a TCP/IP connection with the Internet server in question.
In EP 1 393 523 B1 a corresponding procedure with an Internet smart card is described. In this solution the Internet smart card additionally assumes the administration of cookies.
The above-mentioned routing mechanism is for example provided by the Internet Connection Sharing feature (ICS) of the operating system Microsoft Windows®. An ICS can provide a connection establishment only for one physical interface of the Internet smart card in each case, so that e.g. upon switching from a contact-type data communication to a contactless data communication the ICS has to be deactivated and reactivated. Installing a routing functionality furthermore requires administration rights and, in addition to the usual Internet access of the web browser, a separate Internet access of the Internet smart card. Furthermore the high data traffic to and from the Internet smart card can possibly be problematic due to the limited resources of a smart card.